1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) display device, and more particularly, to a bendable stereoscopic 3D display device and method for driving the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A three-dimensional (3D) display may be simply defined as an entire system that artificially reproduces 3D images. The system typically includes both software that creates image content in a 3D fashion and hardware that actually implements the image content created by the software into 3D images. In other words, the separate image content in software is typically required to realize 3D images in the 3D display.
A virtual 3D display (hereinafter, referred to as “stereoscopic 3D display device”) is an entire system that allows humans to virtually and stereoscopically view an image output from flat panel display hardware using the principle of binocular disparity. Binocular disparity is caused by the fact that human eyes are spaced apart from each other by about 65 mm in a horizontal direction, which is one of various factors that allow humans to perceive a 3D effect.
In other words, because of binocular disparity, when a human views an object, the two eyes of the human see slight different images (properly speaking, having slight different left and right spatial information). As such, when the two images are transferred to the brain through the retina, the brain accurately combines the two images, and thereby the human can perceive a 3D effect. Accordingly, a stereoscopic 3D display device is a system in which a virtual 3D effect is obtained based on binocular disparity through a design in which two left and right images are simultaneously displayed on a 2D display device and transferred to the human's eyes.
In order to display images of two channels on a single screen in such a stereoscopic 3D display device, the images of two channels are typically output one channel by one channel while lines are changed one line by one line on the screen in one of horizontal and vertical directions. In the case of a glassless method, when the images of two channels are simultaneously output from one display device, the right image is directly viewed only by the right eye and the left image is directly viewed only by the left eye. On the other hand, in the case of a method of wearing glasses, the right image is blocked so that it is not viewed by the left eye, and the left image is blocked so that it is not viewed by the right eye.
As described above, binocular disparity caused due to an interval between the human's eyes is one of the important factors that allow humans to perceive a 3D effect and depth perception, along with psychological and memorial factors.
Methods for realizing stereoscopic displays are typically classified into a volumetric type, a holographic type and a stereoscopic type depending on the extent of 3D image information given to a viewer.
The volumetric type is a method that allows humans to feel perspective with respect to a depth direction due to a psychological factor and an inhalation effect. The volumetric type has been applied to a 3D computer graphic that displays perspective, superimposition, a shadow and light and shade, motion, and the like by calculation or so-called IMAX theater that provides a large screen having a wide viewing angle to a viewer and causes an optical illusion as if the viewer were drawn into the space.
A 3D expression method, which has been known as the most perfect stereoscopic image realization method, may be represented by laser beam reproduction holography or white light reproduction holography.
Also, the 3D expression method allows humans to perceive a 3D effect due to a physiological factor of both eyes. As described above, the 3D expression method uses an ability that the brain generates spatial information in front of and behind a display surface in the course of combining these images to perceive a 3D effect, that is, stereography when associated images of a flat panel including disparity information are viewed by the left and right eyes that are spaced apart from each other by about 65 mm. Such a 3D expression method is broadly classified into a method that wears glasses and a glassless method that does not wear glasses.
A lenticular lens method and a parallax barrier method are the known representative methods that do not wear glasses. The lenticular lens method uses a lenticular lens plate that includes cylindrical lenses vertically arranged and is installed in front of a display panel.
In these glassless stereoscopic 3D display devices, even when a stereoscopic shape of the flexible display panel is deformed, 3D images in the flat panel state are maintained identically. Accordingly, 3D images on the bendable display panel may not be implemented or the 3D effect of images may be degraded. In other words, because 3D images are implemented based on the initially designed view map, the viewer can view 3D images when he or she enters a fixed viewing zone.
In an ideal case, an appropriate viewing position of a viewer and the number of viewers are estimated, and desired 3D images are viewed when the viewer's eyes are in a view-diamond of a specific location. However, when the display panel, which is designed based on the initial estimation of the appropriate viewing position, is bent, images do not progress in an intended direction and thus, image separation is not made properly. For example, superimposition of the desired view and other view images may occur, leading to a 3D cross-talk perceived by the viewer.